On February 14,Saad Haririaddressed a crowd of tens of thousands gathered at the Beirut gravesite of his father,Rafik Hariri, who was assassinated exactly 21-years earlier.
Saad Hariri announced the return of the Future Movement (Tayyar al-Mustaqbal) in the upcoming parliamentary elections in May, after disbanding the party four-years ago. However, he did not specify if he will run for office.
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Hariri, a former MP and Prime Minister, has been living abroad since bowing out of the political scene in 2022, which left the Sunni community fractured in parliament, where seats are divided according to a sectarian quota system.
Image: Saad Hariri in 2018 (Source: EU)
Lebanon’s population is divided into three nearly equal groups: Sunni, Shia, and Christian. Hezbollah, a Shia armed group, is currently under pressure domestically and from foreign powers to disarm, in favor of the Lebanese Army becoming the only legally armed group.
Prime Minister Rafik Hariri died in Beirut on February 14, 2005 after a massive explosion targeted his motorcade. Analysts of the Middle East say it is impossible to overstate the effect his death had on the region. The bomb was like a political earthquake which shook the Middle East and set into motion a chain of events which have reshaped the Levant.
At first glance those watching the breaking news of the huge blast which took Hariri’s life and many others, felt whoever was responsible for the attack was trying to destroy Syria.
Analysts first pointed to Israel as the chief beneficiary of the attack which would bring about the withdrawal of Syrian occupation troops on April 26, 2005, ending a 29-year occupation.
Source: Global Research
